July 25, 2022
“I could do that.”
We heard that phrase the other day when talking about The Andy Warhol Diaries on Netflix.
The person who said they could do it themselves was referring to Warhol’s early works; his Marilyns and Campbell’s Soup Cans.
The funny thing is, they weren’t wrong – and that was the point of Warhol’s early ‘industrialised’ concepts.
Screen printing is super accessible and affordable. With a handful of materials, anyone can create their own screen print masterpiece.
It likely won’t sell for millions at Sotheby’s, though, precisely because it’s so simple.
What some don’t take into account with Warhol’s early works is all of the factors happening around him at the time.
The state of the art market; social movements; advancements in technology and comms, and many others which helped to maximise his message. Context is hugely important when gauging Warhol’s impact.
We also say “I could do that” (jokingly) when watching Ninja Warrior, totally ignoring the extreme work that goes into toning, conditioning and stamina building.
Which brings us to the point – simplicity is probably the hardest thing to achieve in art and design.
That includes work related to branding, rebranding, creating artworks and lithographs for limited editions, social media and OOH advertising. So, how do you achieve simplicity?
Take a look at TAKEOFF’s recent graphic design projects on our portfolio page!
Achieving client results through simple design
Every designer and artist strives for simplicity.
Achieving true simplicity depends on the goal. At TAKEOFF, we’re not looking to sell a picture at auction for millions, for instance.
We’re enhancing clients’ messaging, and are looking to convey thoughts and emotions to target audiences as quickly as possible.
Our talented global team of artists and designers have years of experience in doing that – in working with clients to bring simple ideas to life, without compromising or complicating them.
Our design philosophy, and ability to work together and with our clients to criticise constructively and test designs in real-world settings is key to that success.
Because it isn’t just ‘simplicity’ that we have to consider. Like our Warhol example above, there are a huge amount of internal and external factors to consider for every project.
We have to thoroughly analyse the market we’re looking to reach. We need to look at their tastes; current design trends; demographic information; research competitors; the digital channels being used; language preferences and many other factors.
We then have to consider the emotion of the design. What is the brand trying to say, and how easy is it to convey that message in a powerful way to a target audience at a glance?
There are times, too, when the project becomes much harder due to other behind-the-scenes factors such as the assets we can use and worldwide delivery times.
Put all of this together and you can see that, for every simple design that hits the mark, a lot of people are working extremely hard behind the scenes to create something truly unique and special.
We make it happen at TAKEOFF, thanks to an extremely skilled team of talented visual artists that can convey powerful messages easily across a variety of off- and online channels.